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Gilded
Serpent presents...
An
Invitation to
Haiku the Belly Dance
by Najia Marlyz
It is the
start of a new year, and while attempting to look at the Belly
dance community from a fresh perspective, I had an epiphany. The
genre could take an intriguing, and possibly humorous, path
if portrayed by the poetic art of Haiku.
Haiku
often does not take itself or its subjects too seriously
and is simply
word images and sensory feelings conveyed by means of three
lines only. The first and third lines of a Haiku poem are
composed of five syllables and the second line must have seven. Generally
the third line sums up the images created and drawn in
the first two lines. Each set of three lines must be complete
within
the form and must not depend on following sets of lines.
If you dare
to laugh at our strange but special art and take a light hearted
observation of the Belly dance world, I invite and challenge
you to compose some Belly dance Haiku of your own and send
them to Gilded Serpent for our new Haiku poetry collection. We
will publish them if they are socially acceptable: accurate,
observational, amusing, and/or artistic (and, of course, clean).
Here
are the 14 Belly dance Haiku that I wrote for you this
morning:
Contorted
bodies
Writhe,
bloodless, in unison
Tattoos,
anyone?
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This
rhythm: Maksoum.
Shagundallah
plays triplets,
Drummer
prepares noose.
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Dancer’s
main mission:
Educate
each audience.
Ennui
settles in.
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Famous
performer.
Choreographed
dance tonight.
How
symmetrical!
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Pale
flesh escapes.
We
all pretend not to see.
Sequined
bra failure.
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Tentacles
waving,
Dancer
apparently stoned.
Who
was her teacher?
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Black,
black, black, more black!
Black
lips, black nails, garter belt
Hear
weird Goth music?
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Tek,
Tek, Tek-a-tek,
Troupe
perfect in every move.
Sisterhood
triumphs.
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I ask
you, “So what
If
both hands grasp my sword’s blade?”
Illusion
defeat.
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Skillful
veils spin,
Fast,
faster; this trick and that!
No
art. No meaning.
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Safety
pins showing,
White
push-ups extrude themselves,
Where’s
the costumer?
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Pigeon
toes lead them.
Pounding
hearts, wide legs, arms flail.
Student
Night tonight!
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Humility?
No!
Computers
are spewing out
Marshmallow
bios.
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Coins,
hairy armpits,
Legs
hide in polyester.
Dance
in the ‘60s!
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Whirling
around I
Feel a strap go boing; uh, oh
Costume malfunction.
-contributed
by Maia
Portland
Oregon
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turkish drop for tips
waiter picks up my twenty
stuck and can't get up
-contributed
by Surreyya
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diva
steals the show
jealous dancers talk some smack
" I can do that too..."
-contributed
by Surreyya |
Sword
work on the floor
suddenly zipper goes "RIP!"
don't go commando
-contributed
by Surreyya |
Ethnic
family
says to me "You dance pretty
good for a white girl..."
-contributed
by Surreyya |
Birthday
gig at club
brand new coin bra falls to floor
test drive your costumes
-contributed
by Surreyya |
yours
here! |
Have
a comment? Send us a
letter!
Check the "Letters to the Editor"
for other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
12-31-05 The
Key: an Allegory* in Which a Courtesan Dancer Greets the New
Year by Najia Marlyz
Court dancer, Raven, was lost in thought as she shifted her gaze toward a novice
barefoot dancer whose name she could not remember.
12-16-04 Raven
of the Night: Dancer’s Allegory for New Year’s Eve 2005
Raven of the Night was the name by which he thought of her–but feathers? Raven
had none! She was the castle’s Dancer of Dreams and aspired to become Jester
of the Court...
12-31-03 The
New Year's Dance Poetry by Najia
2-14-08 Photos
from Carnival of Stars 2007- A-Z Page 2- L through
Z photos by Carl Sermon, Duane Stevens, John Kalb,
Murat Bayhan, Christopher Erickson, Lynette Harris
Novemenber
10 & 11, 2007, produced by Alexandria and Latifa Centennial
Hall in Hayward, California
2-11-08 Photos
from Carnival of Stars 2007- A-Z Page 1- A through
K photos by Carl Sermon, Duane Stevens, John Kalb,
Murat Bayhan, and Lynette Harris
Novemenber
10 & 11, 2007, produced by Alexandria and Latifa Centennial
Hall in Hayward, California
2-8-08 Amina's
North Beach Memories, Chapter 7: Yousef –Black
Lights and Veils by Amina Goodyear
It
was kind of hard to compete with this kind of action when we
kept our clothes on.
2-6-08 The
Secret of Saiidi Song and Dance-Straight from the Horse’s
Mouth by Keti Sharif
"Saiidi".
Say this word anywhere in Egypt (including El Saiid) and colloquially
it implies someone who is funny, backward - a loveable, gullible
character with salt-of-the-earth village simplicity. To call
someone “Saiidi”is a local term or endearment for
a likeable buffoon!
2-5-08 My
First Mid East Gig by Yasmina Ramzy
Once
we landed in Amman, we were greeted on the tarmac by solid lines
of soldiers on both sides leading to the doorway of the airport,
machine guns pointed towards the passengers. I don't recall ever
seeing even one Canadian soldier in the flesh and blood, let
alone a gun, let alone so many big guns and pointed at me. I
don't think I blinked during that endless walk. We were clearly
not in Hawaii.
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